Rotary printing and cutting machine with interchangeable printing cylinders



July 10. 1955 A BURGMER 2,753,797 ROTARY PRINTING AND CUTTING MACHINE WITH INTERCHANGEABLE PRINTING CYLINDERS Filed March 27, 1953 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Illlllllllll Il'lllllll July 10. 1956 J. BURGMER 2,753,797 ROTARY PRINTING AND CUTTING MACHINE WITH INTERCHANGEABLE PRINTING CYLINDERS Filed March 27, 1953 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 INVA-IWUP MM MW 628% 2,753,797 Patented July 10, 1956 United States Patent fiice ROTARY PRINTING AND CUTTING MACHINE WITH INTERCHANGEABLE PRINTING CYLIN- DERS Josef B'urgmer, Wuppertal-Barmen, Germany Application March 27, 1953, Serial No. 345,128

Claims priority, application Germany March 27, 1952 5 Claims. (Cl. 101-480) The invention relates to rotary printing machines and more precisely to rotary printingmachines of the type on which different page sizes can be produced, notably for printing forms of different sizes.

The main object of the invention is to provide a rotary printing machine which can readily be changed over for the printing of sheets of different sizes without detriment to its output.

In principle, there are two different types of rotary machines on which different page sizes can be printed. In one construction, printing cylinders of constant circumference are employed, but with such printing cylinders it is only possible to produce page sizes equal to the size of the circumference of the cylinders or page sizes which, when disposed end-to-end, occupy the whole circumference of the cylinder. If it is desired to print other page sizes, part of the circumference of the printing cylinder remains free. Consequently, the paper web to be printed is not entirely utilised and the output of the printing machine is reduced.

In the other construction of the rotary printing machine for different page sizes, interchangeable printing cylinders of different diameters are employed, so that the circumference of the printing cylinders is in any case fully utilised. However, this arrangement is disadvantageous because the replacement of one printing cylinder by another of different diameter is time-wasting and difficult, especially since it necessitates the simultaneous replacement and modification of other parts of the mechanism.

It is proposed in accordance with the invention so to fashion and mount the printing cylinders. or pairs of printing cylinders and to arrange the driving means thereof that the printing cylinders can readily be interchanged with others of different circumference and the speed adaptaticn between the printing and inking mechanisms and the like can readily be effected, for example merely by interchanging a single gear wheel in the transmission path between the driving motor and the parts of the machine.

The invention resides in that, in a rotary printing machine having printing cylinders Which are adapted to be interchanged for the purpose of changing the page size and which co-operate with other cylinders or mechanisms, the parts of the machine which are to be driven are subdivided into two groups connected independently of one another to the driving motor or the like, the speed of the drive of one group which comprises the interchangeable printing cylinders and the mechanisms co-operating therewith being variable, while the drive of the other group, which comprises the mechanisms operating at constant speed, runs at invariable speed.

in a preferred embodiment of the invention, all the mechanisms whose speed must be varied when changing over to different page sizes, such as printing, cross-cutting and folding mechanisms and the like are driven through a special shaft which is coupled through a change-speed gear, for example an interchangeable gear wheel, with the driving motor and the other mechanisms or with the gear train connected thereto.

In accordance with a further feature of the invention, the shaft operating at variable speed is so arranged as to intersect the axes of all the printing cylinders or pairs of printing cylinders and is coupled with the latter through worm gears having a double mounting. The double mounting of the driving wheels for the individual printing cylinders and the like facilitates the interchanging operation. The transverse displacement of the cylinder bearings and of the bearings for the counter-pressure cylinders which is necessary when changing the circumference of the cylinders is simplified by the use of the worm drive shaft provided in accordance with the invention, since as the driving gear wheels move along this shaft the worm gears remain in engagement.

in accordance with the invention, the readily interchangeable printing cylinders are advantageously so mounted that their shaft, on which the cylinder body is mounted in-a manner known per so so as to be axially and tangentially adjustable, comprises at its driving end an eccentrically arranged driving pin which, after the en gagement and centering of the cylinder in the recess in a disc, can be firmly clamped on the corresponding driving shaft.

Finally, the inventionincludes a novel configuration of the printing cylinder itself, the jacket of which projects beyond the end walls at the two ends thereof. It is thus possible independently of the momentary position of the cylinders to lift the cylinder manually or by means of lifting appliances for the purpose of engaging or disengagmg it.

As an example of embodiment of the invention, a multiple rotary printing machine comprising three pairs of printing cylinders is diagrammatically illustrated in the drawings, in which,

Fig. l is a side elevation of the whole machine without its frame,

Fig. 2 is a vertical cross-section through the machine along the longitudinal axis of a printing mechanism, and

Fig. 3 is a section on the line AB of Fig. 2 on a larger scale.

The illustrated machine comprises a frame formed of the uprights i1, i2 and is, on which the driving shaft a for one working group and the driving shaft b for the other working group are mounted. These two shafts extend over the entire length of the machine and are connected together and to the driving motor co through the toothed-wheel gearing 01 to cm.

The shaft :2 drives through bevel wheels the first inking rollers d1 to (is and consequently also the remaining rollers of the three inking mechanisms, as well as the pairs of rollers e1, es and f1, is, by which the paper webs are moved through the machine.

The three pairs of printing cylinders g1 to gs namely the so-called pattern cylinders g1, g3, g5 and the counterpressure cylinders g2, g4, gs, as well as the cross-cutting roller h are driven off the shaft b by means of the worm gears ii to is. The shaft b thus drives the parts which must be moved at a different speed when the length of the page to be printed is varied.

As will be seen from Fig. 2, this speed variation of the shaft b may be effected merely by exchanging a single gear Wheel. The driving pinion c1 of the motor co drives at constant speed through the double gear wheels 02, c3 and c4, 05 the gear wheel cs mounted on the main shaft. The gear wheel cw mounted on the other driving shaft b is connected to the double gear wheel as, cm which is in turn connected to the gear wheel 04 through the gear wheel Cs the mounting of which is swivellably arranged. One gear wheel as of the double gear wheel is arranged to be readily exchanged. Due to the swivellable arrangement of the mounting of the gear wheel 08, it is possible to maintain the gear wheels as, es and ca, 04 in engagei2 by cross members.

ment even when the diameter of the gear wheel 09 is varied. The individual gear wheels of the pairs of 02, c3, c4, c5, c9 and cm are non-rotatably connected together.

In the arrangement illustrated, the page size can be changed merely by exchanging the gear wheel c9, whereafter the gear Wheel C8 having a swivellable mounting is re-engaged with the new gear wheel c9.

In order that the driving parts of the pairs of printing cylinders g1 to g6 may be mounted on both sides of the driving means, there is mounted on the driving side of the machine, in addition to the main uprights 1'1, 1'2, an auxiliary upright is which is firmly connected to the upright The shafts a and b extend through the gap between the uprights i2 and is. The mountings for the worm gears ii to is of the pairs of printing cylinders g1 to g6 are also arranged between the uprights i2, is.

The cylinder body g (barrel) of the printing cylinders is so mounted on the shaft k as to be axially displaceable "and rotatable in the circumferential direction, but is adapted to be made fast thereon. The shaft k is made hollow and firmly clamped between the conical members l1, 12, of which the member [1 can be axially moved by means of a hand wheel. The other clamping member [2 is securely connected to the driving shaft j. By means of the arrangement illustrated, the printing cylinder can be readily and accurately centred during its installation. The power is transmitted between the clamping member l2 and the shaft k by means of an eccentrically arranged pin m provided on the end of the shaft k and engaging in a recess 11 formed in a disc 0 rigidly clamped on the driving shaft For the purpose of firmly clamping the disc 0 on the driving shaft, the movable segment p is displaced by means of the screw q, which has a conical shank.

The jacket of the printing cylinder g so projects beyond each end wall r1, r2 that it is possible to manipulate the printing cylinder by hand or by means of a lifting appliance during the engagement and disengagement thereof.

The paper web P to be printed is drawn from the supply roll v in the usual manner and moved continuously through the printing machine. Those parts of the paper web which are to be cut oif by the cutter hr of the crosscutting roller h co-operating with the counter-cutter ha are laid on the conveyor band t and fed from there to the point at which they are to be further processed.

I claim:

1. A rotary printing machine comprising drive means, cooperating rollers connected with said drive means for feeding a web of paper through said machine, means for interchangeably mounting printing cylinders of various diameters in said machine, printing cylinders carried by said mounting means, an inking mechanism connected with said drive means and cooperating with said printing cylinders to provide ink therefor, a cross-cutting mechanism connected to operate with said printing cylinders for cutting said web into varying sizes in accordance with the printing cylinders utilized, variable gear train means connecting said printing cylinders and cross-cutting mechanism with said drive means for varying their speed in accordance with the printing cylinders utilized, said variable gear train means including means connected with said cylinder mounting means for driving said cylinders, said cooperating rollers and said inking mechanism being connected with said drive means independently of said variable gear train means whereby variation of said variable gear train means in accordance with the size of printing cylinders utilized will enable the latter and said cross-cutting mechanism to cooperate with said cooperating rollers and said inking mechanism to vary the size of page printed.

2. A machine of the character described in claim 1 wherein said printing cylinders and said cross-cutting mechanism are connected with said drive means by a common shaft, and wherein said variable gear train means includes an interchangeable gear wheel which connects said shaft with said drive means and with said cooperating rollers and inking mechanism.

3. A machine of the character described in claim 2 wherein said printing cylinders are connected with said shaft by worm gears having a double mounting.

4. A machine of the character described in claim 1 wherein said printing cylinders include a pattern cylinder and a cooperating counter-pressure cylinder, and wherein said cylinder mounting means includes axially aligned conical members for supporting said pattern cylinder, one of said conical members being axially movable, and a pin and recess connection between said cylinder and one of said conical members for transmitting motion therebetween.

5. A machine of the character described in claim 4 wherein said pattern cylinder includes a jacket projecting at both ends beyond the lateral end walls thereof.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,732,215 Barber Oct. 22, 1929 1,868,963 Barber July 26, 1932 2,098,946 Elliot Nov. 16, 1937 2,606,493 Haspert Aug. 12, 1952 2,637,270 Bamford May 5, 1953 

